Dr. Ramsay's field of specialization within psychology is behavioral neuroscience. He conducts clinical and behavioral research that is of practical significance to dentistry/medicine and has theoretical importance to our understanding of the brain-behavioral systems underlying drug addiction and drug tolerance. His primary research interest is in the area of drugs and behavior. He has conducted controlled animal experiments as well as human clinical investigations into the role learning plays in modulating drug effects. One of his research interests pertains to individual differences in acute tolerance development and how they might relate to an individual's vulnerability to drug addiction. One of his current experiments investigates the relationship between acute and chronic tolerance development to nitrous oxide anagesia in human volunteers. Dr.Ramsay also studies drug effects on human performance. He is investigating the effects of the benzodiazepine, midazolam, on the control of muscle force with one objective being the better understanding of tolerance development and its possible relationship to precipitated rebound. Dr. Ramsay's research interest include the utility of combining drug therapy with non-pharmacological behavioral and psychotherapeutic approaches to human disorders. He is actively involved in a 5-year project evaluating a possible role of the benzodiazepine, alprazolam, in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of phobic disorders.